Party Animal (5 Year-Old Style)

Preston started talking about turning five and his 5th birthday party just days after he turned four!  Not that he wasn't grateful for his 4th birthday party, he was just already excited for the next one (kind of like he starts talking about the following year's Halloween costume on November 1st!).  Anyway, he never wavered as to where he wanted his party to be.  When we discussed theme, however, he was all over the place - - until we walked into the party store in April.  He took one look at the Army stuff, turned to me and said, "I want to have an Army guy party because I miss Papa."  (Sweet, sweet boy.) Alrighty, then... Army it was!

The Invitation...

The favors were each tied up in an official Army bandana (I wore one in my hair), Preston wore an official Army PT shirt and his cake was covered in camo frosting with Army Rangers and diecast Army trucks. He loved everything and had a fantastic time!

A huge thanks to our good friend, Lance, who grabbed my camera from me and started clicking away.  There wouldn't have been any pics if not for him!  How he managed to keep up with the kids is beyond me!  They NEVER stopped moving!

Gracie had a blast, too!  And, when Gavin was awake, he enjoyed taking in the whole scene.

The kids all seemed to enjoy the trampoline time!

Scenes from the day

For his actual birthday, we were up north on a somewhat "kid-torturous" road trip (lots of time in the car).  When we woke up in our hotel room, we told Preston that we were going to spend the evening with his "cousin friends" (he calls them cousins, but they aren't his actual cousins), Camden and Cole and, of course, their entire family. (John and their dad, Mike, have been friends since elementary school and all four of us adults have been friends for 15 years.) Preston's eyes welled-up with tears and he excitedly hugged both of us, thanking us profusely for such a great birthday surprise. He was SO excited to see them and hang out with the big boys.  We had a great time visiting with them... we hadn't seen them since I was 8 weeks pregnant with Gavin.

Our big five year-old enjoying his wish-making and candle-blowing.

We stopped to pick up the cake on our way and John was inside the grocery store FOREVER.  Turns out, there wasn't anyone in the bakery to help write on the cake.  Finally a guy came over and he insisted that writing on the sides of the cake wouldn't work.  John, who had worked for that same store chain for roughly 15 years (and knows his way around the kitchen), went behind the counter and wrote on the cake himself, all the while the guy was telling him it wouldn't work.  If you want something done... do it yourself!  I am guessing that's the first time a customer jumped behind the bakery counter to quickly decorate a cake!

The boys had a blast having water gun fights in the backyard (it was in the 90s), playing basketball, riding scooters, etc.
Preston had so much fun... and we were so grateful to have some time with good friends.